Things to watch as Legislature gets to work

Saturday

Mar 1, 2014 at 8:34 PMMar 9, 2014 at 9:34 PM

By Mark Lanemark.lane@news-jrnl.com

It's the time of year when azaleas bloom, bikers roar back into town, and the Florida Legislature sets up shop.This week's session comes before what promises to be a hard-fought gubernatorial election, so expect some crowd-pleasing legislation. The kind that might put a little shine on an unpopular governor: Tax holidays, tuition breaks for veterans, car-registration fee cuts and education spending increases. And money to protect our springs . . . well, I doubt they'll go that far, but it would be nice.Here are some of the issues being watched here:Speedway tax rebates: Last year, a bill that would have provided more than $2 million a year in sales-tax rebates over 30 years for Daytona International Speedway's ambitious expansion and face-lift got locked in a multi-car crash in the last lap of the session.A lot of other sports projects got tangled up with the Speedway legislation — money for a new Dolphins stadium in Miami, for a soccer stadium in Orlando and for football stadium renovations in Jacksonville. The whole thing collapsed under its own weight.So can the Speedway bill stay clean and clear of other projects this year? That's the hope.Red-light cameras: Currently monitoring intersections in Daytona Beach, Palm Coast and Holly Hill, the cameras haven't proved the revenue generators city leaders first hoped. Still, they've spread to 74 Florida cities and five counties.One bill would stop that spread, roll back fines from $158 to $83, and keep cities from profiting from the cameras. Two others would repeal the law authorizing the cameras. New restrictions do seem likely. Gambling: This will be the year the Legislature decides what to do about the state's mix of gambling. Or not.Resort casinos in South Florida, expanded offerings at tracks, a new gaming control board, the Seminole gambling compact, allowing greyhound tracks to have gambling without necessarily racing dogs (or at least racing them less), requiring a statewide referendum on gambling expansion ... a lot of issues out there.One school of thought says all this is way too hot for an election year. Yet three major gambling bills did roll out of committee last week. Maybe something could happen.Education funding: The good news for public schools: More money! At least, that's what Gov. Rick Scott proposes. No, the total would not be enough to make up for past cuts if you consider inflation or increases in student population, but hey, more than last year. Beer: Each year brings tweaks to Florida's assortment of alcohol laws. The latest has to do with the explosion of craft-beer operations, something we've seen locally.State law limits the size of growlers, refillable bottles used to move the brew from tap to home, to two sizes: 32 ounces (too small) and a gallon (too big). The 64-ounce size is the most popular but illegal.Changing this supports the locally brewed product, which seems worthwhile to me.Email: mark.lane@news-jrnl.com